Hot Five
Voodoo racks up 1.5bn downloads, mobile user retention and session data, and Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards winners revealed
The hottest articles from the mobile games industry over the last week
Hot News
Hothead Games takes a step into the third-party publishing business
"We know what it’s like to be in their shoes, and we are just as committed to their success as they are”
Changing Infrastructure
Facebook set to integrate Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram apps
Users to be able to message each other across services
Substance Deal
Adobe picks up Substance Designer firm Allegorithmic
Tools to be integrated into the creative cloud
Unreal Ads
Appodeal brings free in-game ad monetisation plugin to Unreal Engine 4
Offers access to more than 60 ad demand sources and features analytics, A/B testing and other capabilities
Big Spender
Fortnite developer Epic acquires Agog Labs and 3Lateral
Company continues to splash its cash
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: King's Candy Crush Saga the top grosser in UK and US
Charts from January 7th to 13th
Region Focus
Region Focus: Vancouver's key industry figures on the ups, downs and exciting future of this important games hub
Delving deeper into the local dev scene
Jobs Board
Get your next job in mobile games from the PocketGamer.biz Jobs Board
The hottest mobile games industry jobs
The Final Statement?
Improbable games allowed back on Unity
But SpatialOS still not officially supported
Bank On It
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery maker Jam City lands $145m
Funding led by JPMorgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Silicon Valley Bank, SunTrust Bank and CIT Bank
Big Deal
Pokemon Go dev Niantic raises $245 million at $4 billion valuation
Further M&A activity a possibility says Niantic spokesperson
Fold
Sony Pictures and AT&T reportedly looking to sell off GSN Games
Sony looks to test the market while AT&T needs to discard unwanted baggage
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Roblox a top grosser in the UK
Charts from December 31st to January 6th
Crowdfunding Campaigns
Ico Partners: Successful video game Kickstarters raised $16 million in 2018
Dip of eight per cent year-on-year
Indie Showcase
Meet the indie studios coming to Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019
Much like all of our Connects events, indie developers are an integral part of the forthcoming Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019
Big Indie Pitch
The Big Indie Pitch reveals its Q1 2019 schedule including trips to Berlin, Austin and San Francisco
The Big Indie Pitch heads on the road for the first time in 2019 following Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019
Cloud
Report: Verizon is testing a new streaming service for smartphones and Nvidia Shield
Verizon Gaming will aim to run on the phone operator’s upcoming 5G capabilities
Opinion
Sorry Improbable, the Unity dispute is just business
Improbable sorry for causing “uncertainty, confusion and pain” as Unity rejects that current SpatialOS devs will have their games blocked
Say My Name
New Breaking Bad game in development for mobile from Narcos: Cartel Wars studio
San Diego-based games developer FTX Games to spearhead development
Rage Fuel
War of words heats up between games tech firms Unity and Improbable
As Fortnite firm Epic swoops in with $25m fund for developers to come to its engine
Unity Versus Improbable
Changes to Unity terms of service mean devs can't use engine with Improbable's SpatialOS tech
Studios using this tech together is breach of the middleware's terms
Jobs News
Activision Blizzard appoints new Activision, King and emerging businesses presidents
Follows departures of both Eric Hirshberg and Mike Morhaime
Blockchain Engine
Cocos-BCX officially launches its testnet to over 1.3 million developers
A look at what the game engine brings to the blockchain
Event
Pocket Gamer Connects lands in Seattle in 2019 - speakers required!
Mobile games industry B2B conference returns stateside this May, with a PC event too
Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Roblox moves up Western download and grossing charts over Christmas
iOS and Android charts from the US, UK and China from for the week of December 24th to 30th
Closed
Robot Entertainment pulls the plug on Orcs Must Die! Unchained, Hero Academy 1 and 2
The developer was operating at a “financial loss” keeping the old games alive
Phwoar
Facebook rules Gris' launch trailer too sexual to air
Publisher Devolver Digital claims the platformer’s launch trailer was rejected for “sexually suggestive” content
Case Study
How Zorka.Mobi and Azur Games put together a pre-release influencer marketing campaign for Infinity Ops
Racking up 1.3 million pre-registrations by focusing on Latin America
Blacked Out
FoxNext Games reveals Alien: Blackout mobile game
Alien: Blackout could launch as soon as January 24th; more stories based on Amanda Ripley planned in other mediums
Gone West
Fallout Shelter publisher Bethesda ends legal battle against Warner Bros over Westworld "rip-off"
The dispute between the two mobile management games has been "amicably resolved"
Hot Five
Amber CEO talks creative destruction, China is open for business, and Brawl Stars tops the charts
The top mobile games industry stories from the last week
Marvellous
Hearthstone director's Second Dinner snags $30m from NetEase and secures Marvel licence agreement
New studio has been working on its first game for six months
Controversial Themes
LBC Studios CEO on growing to a 30-person team from Hempire's success
Weed-themed gaming
Financial Slowdown
Apple blames China as it posts sales warning
Points the finger at Trump administration for trade war exacerbating country's economic downturn
Whew
App Store users forked out $1.5 billion between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day
Customers spent $322 million on January 1st alone
Jobs News
Blizzard loses CFO to payment company Square
Follows Activision Blizzard CFO Spencer Neumann out the door after he joined Netflix
Funding Go
Pokemon Go dev Niantic pulls in $190 million investment
Studio has raised around $420m so far at an estimated $3.9 billion valuation
Engine Of Change
Corona game engine goes open source
Company hopes move will make development process more transparent
Critical Hit
Pokemon Go bagged nearly $800 million from in-app purchases in 2018
Sales up 35 per cent on 2017
Global Charts
Weekly global mobile games charts: Brawl Stars fires into US top 10 download and grossing rankings
Rankings for the week of December 17th to 23rd
Jobs In Games Special
Jobs in Games Special 2019: Contributors wanted
Help others level up their careers
Jobs News
Activision Blizzard set to fire chief financial officer
Spencer Neumann could be about to join streaming giant Netflix
Indie Mavens
The mobile games that stood out most to indie developers in 2018
Our indie mavens weigh in
Indie View
The Big Indie Interviews: Niebla Games talks pitching all over the world
We chat to Niebla Games, who walked away with the third place prize at The Big Indie Pitch at ChinaJoy 2018
Games Of The Year
PocketGamer.biz's Games of the Year 2018
The Editorial team picks their favourite games this year
That's All Folks
Scopely’s Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem topped 1m downloads on launch day
Release supported by Crushathon livestream
Avengers Disassemble
TinyCo’s Marvel Avengers Academy to close
Servers shut down on February 4th, but will be unavailable for download from January 1st
Marketing
AppsFlyer claims the app ad market will hit $64 billion by 2020
Ads market is set to grow 34 per cent annually on average between 2017 and 2020
Christmas Countdown
Pocket Gamer Connects London advent calendar
Day 24 - What’s behind today’s door? Christmas special offer - 20% off!